Friendship Train

[Frisco Larry]

I just got the MTL Friendship Train HW passenger car.  It looks like a very close match to the few photos I can find on the web.  However, MTL gives no previous identity for the car, nor can I find anything on the web.  Does anyone know the origin (owner and name) of the car ?

[delamaize]

I don't know about the Origins of the HW car, but Doing some research, I found some pictures of how they moved the boxcars we got from france around the states, That would make an interesting train to model.

http://mercitrain.org/HistoricPhotos/

[nkalanaga]

From the article accompanying the pictures:  "antique narrow gauge boxcars"

As far as I know they were standard gauge, straight off the French national railway.

[johnb]

They are Standard Guage, I have seen one of them in arizona

[nkalanaga]

I saw the one in West Virginia, and it certainly looked standard gauge.  I imagine that the original reporter saw how small the cars were and just assumed "narrow gauge".

Even 1970s European standard gauge freight equipment fits the D&RGW modern narrow gauge clearances with room to spare. 

[John]

there is one at the B&O museum, others are scattered around the states .. I saw the one in Hawaii on Oahu at their rail museum ..

[peteski]

One of the cars is in Manchester, NH well preserved in a building. http://mercitrain.org/NewHampshire/ I visited there few years back (I'm in Manchester most weekends).

Yes, standard gauge track was most common all over Europe and these are standard gauge. But as mentioned, European 2-axle boxcars of that period are much smaller than US counterparts.